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Lions legend Sir Ian McGeechan has thrown his weight behind revolutionary proposals to make rugby a contact free game at amateur level as a way back from the coronavirus crisis.

The idea has been mooted at in England and McGeechan believes it should catch on.

It would mean no tackling, scrummaging or mauling and, in effect, touch rugby, but McGeechan argues something needs to happen in the short term to ensure the sport and clubs can at least continue next season.

"Faced with the prospect of contact-free rugby (or more accurately a "no-contact game") or no games, I would go for the hybrid option every time," he writes in a column for the Sunday Telegraph.

"If there is no rugby, if there is nothing to watch, no socialising, no incentive for players to train, a club's whole raison d'etre is taken away. We could see countless grassroots clubs lost.

"We have to remember, 99 per cent of rugby is amateur, run by volunteers and financially supported by members and local business.

"So could there be a hybrid solution to enable clubs to have a meaningful opportunity to open? I think so. It is far from ideal, and yes, it is not rugby as such. But it could be key for clubs whilst we transition from lockdown over the next season and beyond."

McGeechan explained that when Wasps coach, he devised a rugby-soccer game called 'Fugby' which the players loved.

English Premiership players may have to sign disclaimers before returning to training over concerns the necessary insurance policies won't be in place to cover against coronavirus claims, report the Observer.

The paper say World Rugby has issued guidelines urging clubs and unions to ensure they are adequately insured.

But they quote a leading sports lawyer as saying there must be concern among club doctors.

Richard Cramer, of Front Row Legal, told the paper: "Clubs need to be very wary of exposing themselves to claims.

“Where I would be nervous if I was a club is just seeing what the insurance market is doing. As a club, I don’t think you can have any high degree of confidence that the existing insurance policies would indemnify the club. So potentially the clubs are taking a risk getting back on the playing field and exposing players.

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“If I was in that situation I would certainly be wanting to make sure that full insurance is in place, but they might not get a decision from insurers for some time. In which case, doctors and medical teams will have to cover their own backs and there may have to be new types of disclaimers signed by the clubs and the players, because certainly a doctor would not want that level of responsibility.

“I’m not saying that a disclaimer would get a club out of trouble but it does make it more difficult to bring a claim. "